


The accident

by Toad_Town



Series: Dads [8]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, F/F, F/M, Guilt, Hospital, I'm getting tired of typing out all these tags every time, M/M, OTF needs a "preset" option, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self Loathing, Suburban AU, This one's really long jesus, but if you're absurdly squeamish tread lightly, car crash, family au, injuries, longest chapter in the series, not enough to warrant the tag, probably a bunch more I'm forgetting, very minor blood/gore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 00:31:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12024324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toad_Town/pseuds/Toad_Town
Summary: After an accident, Jack and Gabriel worry about people close to them.





	1. The accident

**Author's Note:**

> I did my best to give absurdly vague tags and summary, but you probably know what's about to happen.
> 
> EDIT: OOPS, THIS WAS UP FOR ABOUT A WEEK BEFORE I REALIZED I DIDN'T HAVE IT AS PART OF THE SERIES. SHIT.

It’s a late summer evening, and a group of friends sit outside Mei’s ice cream shop trying to figure out what to do. Jesse’s adamant that they explore the construction site at the edge of town, but Efi refuses. Hana suggests game night, but there’s one too many of them to fit on most consoles. They turn to Genji for suggestions, but he just shrugs.

“You wanna just go back to my place and watch some movies?” Lena suggests. They can all agree on this, and pile into Lena’s car.

“Shotgun!” Genji calls.

“I’m already at the door,” Jesse says. He sighs and gets into the back.

Lena always drives a bit too fast for the comfort of most people, but there’s a specific set of songs that drive her to insane limits. A grin of mischievous excitement appears on her face when a familiar guitar riff starts to blast from the speakers.

_ Do you like…. My car?! _

Her foot turns to lead and anxiously waits for the red light to turn. The song turns to eleven just as it goes green, and they blast off, singing along excitedly to the song.   
“GUESS YOU’RE READY CAUSE I’M WAITING FOR YOU!”

“It’s gonna be SO EXCITING!”

She races along the streets, purposely taking side roads with less cars so no one will interrupt her.

“I WANNA RACE FOR YA!”

The five kids belt out the chorus with ecstasy. This is why they nominated Lena to be their driver, none of the rest of them are this adept at driving this quickly.

“I’M GONNA RUN AS A FLASH TONIGHT, AND FLY!”

_ God, I hate this turn, _ she thinks to herself, slowing down. The bushes block her view of the road, so despite there being a stop sign telling her to look both ways, she can’t really see one of them.

_ Fuck it, it’s late _ . She gets ready to blast across the street.

“I’M GONNA STEP ON THE GAS!”

“AND YOU’LL SEE THE BIG SHOW!”

 

Angela, on duty for the next twelve hours, sits in the First Aid Squad building in front of a textbook, studying for the college physics course she’s taking. It’s been a fairly quiet night, which she’s grateful for, but some of the more experienced workers warn her that this is just the calm before the storm.

And it turns out they’re right.

 

All Hana can do for a few seconds is scream. The one side of the car is buried in a now toppled brick wall, and the other side is shattered. She’s in too much shock to register how much pain she’s in. She tries to open the door, but it doesn’t budge. She wails for help through the open window.

 

Tekhartha, an old man who’s lived alone since he became an adult, is jolted out of his meditative state by a crash followed by almost inhuman screaming. He calmly goes to the window and notes the crash that’s happened outside. Seemingly unfazed by this, he calls 911 without even a hint of worry in his voice.

 

Angela and the other EMTs arrive within minutes, and Angela immediately recognizes the car. “No…” An otherworldly chill courses through her when she realizes the screams must belong to someone she knows. “No…”

She and one of the others force the door open, and help her out of the car.

Once she’s free, she manages to keep screaming, but she’s still sobbing hysterically. “Get her on a stretcher, I’ll help the others out.”

She places Hana’s less injured arm around her shoulder and helps walk her to the ambulance. Hana’s sobs rack her body and Angela’s soul.

She lays her down and goes to help someone else.

“Don’t leave me!”

“I’ll be right back. I won’t leave you.”

She closes her eyes, unable to stop crying, and feels the blood and tears running down her face.

“Who was in the other car?”

“Don’t know. Couldn’t find anyone.”

When she overhears the conversation her blood boils. Someone, likely drunk, hit a car full of children and ran away. She shakes her head. There’s time for anger later. She can’t get to the other side of the car, and her heart falls when she sees Jesse. He’s mostly unconscious, but still breathing. His handsome face will be heavily bruised and scarred for a while. She helps him out, and he starts rousing as she puts him on a stretcher.

“Wha’ happnd?” his mouth is full of blood and he can’t speak properly.

“Someone hit you. You’ll be alright.”

She turns one of the other EMTs. “Was there someone in the middle seat?”

He nods. “Young woman. Unconscious, but she started to come to when we got her in the ambulance.”

The other ambulance arrives, and they opt to put Jesse in that one. Hana hasn’t calmed down yet, and they didn’t want her to distress him.

Her heart drops when she sees Genji. He’s by far the worst, his body will be heavily scarred if he manages to survive at all. They had to cut him free of the door, and there’s glass in his face. He hasn’t regained consciousness yet.

They have to wait for the fire department to get Lena out. Angela sits in the bloodstained passenger seat to comfort her.

She turns to her, fear etched in her face. Her nose is bleeding heavily where the airbag hit it, and she can tell there’s a gash on the other side of her head. “Angela…” is all she can manage.

The hand close to her is uninjured. She squeezes it tightly. “I know. You’ll be okay.”

“I- I’m…” she trails off.

“Scared? That’s normal. We’ll get you out of this just fine.”

She shakes her head. “Sorry.”

“Angela,” someone else says. “Hana says she needs you and we need to get back.”

“I have to go now. You’ll be fine. I’ll see you as soon as you’re in the hospital.”

Lena nods and cries silently. Angela hears the fire truck siren as she gets in the ambulance and they take off.

Hana’s much quieter now, but still clearly distraught. Angela takes her hand and strokes her hair. She’s never seen Hana like this, she’s usually cheerful and ready to take on the world. It saddens her deeply to see her like this. She looks over to Efi, but can’t decode her face. She notices her breathing lightly and wincing with each breath, and she’s reminded of the conversation she overheard.

_ Don’t know. Couldn’t find anyone. _

She’s never wished harm on anyone before, but she does now.

 

Jack, Gabe, and Sombra are in the middle of  _ Jeopardy! _ when the phone rings. Jack picks it up. “Hello?”

“Hello, are you Gabriel Reyes or Jack Morrison?”

“I’m Mr. Morrison.”

“This is the Michael Chu hospital, you’re the emergency contact number for Jesse and Hana Reyes-Morrison…” the blood drains from his face when the operator supplies him with the details.

“We’re on our way.”

 

_ Sombra: Hey _

_ Sombra: Dad said to tell you that Genji and Jesse were in an accident _

_ Sombra: Even though shouldn’t your dad have told you that? _

_ Sombra: He also said to tell you that we can give you a ride if you need _

_ Hanzo: What happened?? _

_ Sombra: Even though, again, that should be your dad’s job _

_ Sombra: He said they got in a car crash and they’re in the hospital _

_ Hanzo: Are they alright? _

_ Sombra: Don’t know. _

_ Sombra: Dad says text us where we should meet you (I assume your house?) _

_ Hanzo: No _

_ Hanzo: The pizzeria a few blocks away. _

_ Sombra: Be right there _

 

Lena, Hana, Jesse, and Efi are all in the same room, but Genji’s in the ICU. Hanzo asks to see him, but gets turned away, so decides to join three other families in his boyfriend’s room. By the time they’ve all arrived, everyone’s been stitched up, had glass picked out of them, and x-ray’d. Hana’s finally calmed down from hysterical to upset but able to talk. Jack talks to her first while his husband and daughter find Jesse.

“You alright, kiddo?”

“I- I think.”

“Hurt?”

She nods. “I was… I was so scared,” she starts to tear up again. “I felt so trapped, and everyone else was unconscious, and—” she’s cut off by her own sobs.

Jack wants so badly to hug her, but doesn’t want to hurt her. He grabs her hand and squeezes. “It’s alright, sweetheart. You’re here now. Everything’s alright.”

Meanwhile, Lena stares straight at the wall. Her parents try to make sure she’s ok, but she can barely answer.

“Are you hurt?”

She mumbles in response.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong? You can tell us.”

She mumbles in response.

Efi’s parents and Orisa crowd around her bed. Orisa’s too young to properly understand mortality, but she can tell her sister’s in pain.

“What exactly happened?” her dad asks.

“Lena was driving and someone hit us. That’s all I know.” Breathing hurts, so she speaks quietly and keeps her answers short.

“Does it hurt?” Orisa asks.

“Yeah.”

“Do you need a hug?”

Efi smiles. “Yes. Gentle.”

Their mom lifts her onto the bed, and she gently embraces her older sister. Efi smiles and uses her free arm to hug her back. “Thank you.”

“You alright, cowboy?” Sombra asks.

“Should be soon. Not sure about this arm, though.” His left arm is heavily bandaged, and will probably need a cast. “And I guess my modeling career is over,” he jokes. “More worried about Hana, to be honest. They put us in a different ambulance because she couldn’t stop screaming.” He looks over to her, and can see her crying. “I’d go check on her, if I was you guys. I’ll be fine.”

He has a similar conversation with his other dad, then sees Hanzo approach. Jack gives Hanzo the usual distrusting look he gives, but gives the two boys some alone time.

They talk for a little, but then a group of doctors come in to take them away to get fixed up and transferred to a hospital room. The families start to clear out.

“Sir, can I talk to you minute?” Hanzo asks. “Alone.”

Jack nods and silently leads him away.

“I know you don’t trust me or my brother,” he says.

“I don’t trust your family. We’ve had to deal with them enough before they moved here.”

“I know. But I am not following in their footsteps, and neither is Genji. Neither of us wish to be like our father. I hope you can grow to trust me, because I’m not going anywhere.”

Jack sighs. “I do have to admit, so far you strike me as a good kid. But you have to understand, I’ve dealt with your family and people like it for far too long, and now you’re tangling my son up with it.”

Hanzo shakes his head “Nothing could be further from the truth. Genji and I are trying to untangle ourselves.”

 

Angela planned on going back to the first aid squad building, but she had to check in Genji first.

“Is he going to be alright? Please tell me he’ll be alright.”

The doctor sighs. “Miss, I wish I could, but there’s a blood shortage. Not enough people donating to make up for the amount of accidents. He desperately needs a blood transfusion, but it’ll be difficult to get enough blood for him to recover.

“Take mine,” she insists.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m O negative, I can donate to anybody.”

“Miss, this is highly unorthodox, we can’t just—”

She cuts him off. They argue for a while, but Angela’s persistent and soon enough, she’s sitting with a needle in her arm and the hope of relief on her face.

 

Jack and Gabe lie awake in their bed. As far as they can tell, Jesse and Hana will be fine, they suffered some breaks and lacerations, but for the most part they’ll heal with little complications. They’re most worried about Jesse’s arm and Hana’s mental state.

“I’ve never seen her like that,” Jack says. “She was so scared, even though she was in the hospital it was like she was still trapped in the car.”

“I know what you mean. But she’s a trooper. Give her a couple days and she’ll be fine.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Gabe realizes something. “Jack… do you think we should call Dr. Harold? Tell him that maybe we’re not ready yet?”

Dr. Harold is a social worker. They’d visited him the day after their beach trip to talk to him about how they’d been considering adopting another child. He’d told them about “stork-drop” adoptions, where if a child of any age’s parents were no longer available to take care of them, a social worker would place the child in their care.

“Yes, first thing in the morning. We need to make sure Hana and Jesse recover first.”

 

Much later that night, after visiting hours are over, the four kids lie awake in their rooms. Lena stews in her own guilt, with every painful breath from Efi or whimper from Hana leaving marks on her soul.

“Guys… I’m so sorry,” she whispers.

“For what?” Jesse asks.

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have been driving that fast.”

“Don’t be stupid. It was some drunk asshole that hit us, not you.”

_ If it weren’t for me everyone would be home right now, _ she thinks, but doesn’t say. She doesn’t sleep that night, just waits for the sun to come up.

As soon as visitor hours start, Angela’s there to see them. Everyone else managed to get to sleep, so she goes to talk to Lena, who’s been staring at the same wall with the same dead expression on her face. “Is everything alright.”

“It was my fault.”

“You hit your own car? I must say, that’s quite a feat.” Normally this would get a laugh out of her, but she just shakes her head.

“I was driving too fast.”

“But they hit your car, not the other way around. I’ve been telling you to drive slower since you got your license, but this is in no way your fault.”

“If I was driving the speed limit I wouldn’t have been there. It would’ve been gone before we got there.”

“Lena, that’s ridiculous. You can apply that logic to anything. If one driver had been driving faster or slower, just about any accident wouldn’t have happened. They were probably drunk, if they hadn’t been drinking, they wouldn’t have hit you, and drunk driving is much more illegal than speeding.”

Lena says nothing.

“You have to recover from this psychologically too, and you won’t be able to until you realize this isn’t your fault. And I’m sure our friends here would agree with me on this.”

“Is Genji going to be okay?”

“We don’t know yet.”

Angela reads her face. She can tell there’s still soul-burdening guilt in her, but there’s nothing else she can think to do.

“Angela,” Hana says.

Angela gets up and goes to her. “Feeling alright?”

She shakes her head. Angela checks her board. Glass lacerations on her face and chest, as well as one broken rib and three fractured.

“Yeah, looks like you’ll feel like crap for a bit, but you’ll be better in no time.” Of course, she doesn’t mention her fear that Hana might end up with PTSD from the crash, they’d cross that bridge when they get to it.

“Sleep well?” she asks.

She shakes her head.

“Need me to get you anything? Your dads will probably be here soon, but until then I can help with anything.”

She shakes her head. “Just stay with me,” she whispers.

“Of course.”

Efi wakes up shortly after. “Good morning,” Angela says.

“Hey,” she whispers.

“I’ll be right back.” she gently pats Hana’s uninjured hand and checks Efi’s chart.

“Windpipe trauma,” she mutters. Efi looks worried. “No need to be concerned, it’ll heal. I was just curious why you were breathing like that.”

“Anything really bad on there?”

“No, you got out relatively unscathed. Mild concussion and a few fractures, you’ll be perfectly fine.”

She goes to sit down next to Hana. Efi turns to Lena. “You’ve been quiet, are you alright?”

Lena shakes her head somberly.

“She’s wasting energy feeling guilty for no reason,” Angela says.

“What do you mean?”

“It was my fault,” she says. “I shouldn’t have been driving so fast.”

“But we were telling you to go fast. We were cheering you on. So that would also make it our fault.”

“I didn’t have to listen.”

“And whoever hit you didn’t have to get drunk and drive a car,” Angela says.

“Exactly. We would’ve been just fine if it weren’t for that guy. Besides, you weren’t even  _ going _ fast when we got hit. You were accelerating from a stop.”

Lena doesn’t say anything. Efi turns to Hana. “Hana, you’re with us, right? It’s not Lena’s fault? Shake your head if it isn’t, nod if it is.”

She shakes her head. 

“Alright, that’s enough talking for you, Efi, I can hear it straining your voice. Lena, no one in this room thinks you’re at fault, except for maybe Jesse but I highly doubt it. If you want to blame yourself, no one can stop you, but it’s a waste and you’re wrong.”

“Jeez, what’s with all the noise?” Jesse asks.

“Ah, glad to see you’re awake. Does your arm hurt?”

“Horrifically. Can’t wait to start my decline into morphine addiction.”

“You know, that’s really not funny.”

“It was a little bit.”

Angela sighs.

“Lena, we should tell Emily you’re here,” Jesse suggests. “And Lucio,” he says to Hana.

“Want me to text him?” Angela asks. Hana nods. “How about you, Lena?” she shakes her head.

“Damn, Lena, what’s so interesting about that wall? You’ve been staring at it since last night.”

“Jesse, you don’t think it’s Lena’s fault that we’re here, do you?” Efi asks.

“Oh yeah, she mentioned that last night. ‘Course I don’t. It was that drunk jackass. Hope they find him soon, that fucker’s gonna be paying all of our tuitions. Sombra and Orisa too, maybe.”

 

Over the next few hours, everyone’s families are in and out of the hospital room. Lena’s parents try to get her to say more than a few words, but she refuses. Jesse’s heartbroken, he feels like his best friend is gone and he doesn’t know how to get her back.

“Angela, we really need to cheer her up,” he whispers to her.

“There’s nothing we can do, especially not here.”

“We need to figure something out,” he insists. “I hate seeing her like this. It’s like some ghost in Lena’s body.”

“I don’t like it either, but I think we just have to wait it out.”

“Can’t do that. She helped cheer me up when my ex cheated on me a few months ago, I need to return the favor. Lena!”

“Hm?”

“Wanna play a game?”

“No.”

He’s a little but relieved, he hadn’t thought of anything, but still disappointed.

“Come on, look around. We’re all okay here.”

“We’re all okay here?” she echoes. “Your arm is fucking  _ ruined _ , your sister can barely talk, Efi can barely  _ breathe _ , and lord knows what’s going to happen to Genji.”

“What, this old thing?” he asks, pointing to his arm. “I like it better this way. Maybe I’ll get a sick metal arm or something.” This gets a laugh from the other girls, but not Lena.

“Alright. I’ve said it before, but I don’t think this was your fault in the slightest. But if it was, and it’s not, but if it was, I’d forgive you. But there’s nothing to forgive anyway.”

“Really? You got in a car accident and you’d just say ‘oh it’s fine, no big deal’?” she asks, her voice heavy with sarcasm.

“No, I’m still suing the crap out of that drunk shithead once we find him. But I  _ would _ forgive you if you needed forgiving.”

“I’m with Jesse here,” Efi says. “Please stop hating yourself for this.”

“Hana…”

Hana holds out her hand with her thumb, index, and pinky extended, sign language for “I love you.”

 

Lucio almost sprints into the hospital once he arrives. After several stern warnings from various employees, he makes it to their room. “Hana!”

When she sees him, the same song they were playing when he kissed her for the first time starts in her head. Just like then, it makes her smile. “Hey,” she whispers.

“Can I hug you?”

She frowns and shakes her head. “Broken ribs. Kiss me?”

He presses his lips against her forehead, cheeks, and lips.

“Yuck! Get a room!” Efi grins.

“Yeah, guess I should introduce you,” Hana says. “You know Jesse and Lena, we have Efi over there, and…” the rest trails off into inaudible whispers. Angela shakes his hand. “I’m Angela, I’m one of the paramedics that helped them.”

“Oh, then it is awesome to meet you, thanks so much for what you do.”

Angela moves herself next to Lena so Lucio can be next to Hana.

“Excuse me, partner,” Jesse says. “What exactly are your intentions with my sister?”

“Excuse me?”

“Just ignore him, he’s screwing around.”

“I’m only gonna warn you once, if you dishonor—”

“Oh my God, that’s not even what cowboys do,” Hana interrupts. “Leave him alone.”

“I’m telling Emily to come.”

“Don’t.”   
“Lena, you need cheering up. Emily’s just the one to do it. I’m telling her what happened.”

Lena groans but doesn’t protest further.

“I don’t look too bad, do I?”

“Even prettier than the day I met you.”

“That says more about the day he first met you, though,” Jesse interrupts.

“Jesse, go over there so Efi can hit you.”

“I’ll do it, too.”

 

“Father,” Hanzo starts. “Do we know what will happen to Genji?”

“There is an experimental procedure where much of the injured parts of his body can be replaced with cybernetics. It increases his likelihood of survival by a lot, but costs a fortune.”

“You will pay though, right?”

“For you or your cousins, definitely. Genji, though, has shown that he will not support the family in its empire. There is no point in saving him.”

“Father, I beg you to reconsider. I’m sure we have more than enough to afford it, and Genji will owe you his life. You could form an agreement where you will only pay to save him if he vows to join our empire.”   
He pauses. “I will consider it.”

 

“Lena?” Emily asks, finding the right room.

“Hey.”

“Oh my God, are you alright?” she asks.

“She will be,” Angela promises. She relocates herself again so Emily can sit with her.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Terrible.”

“Aww. Don’t worry, I’m here for you. If you need anything, I’ve got you covered.”

_ I don’t deserve it, _ she wants to say, but doesn’t.


	2. Coming home

Efi’s the first to get checked out, leaving before the day is done. She says goodbye to her friends and promises to visit them the next day, hugging who she can. Then she asks if she can see Genji. They say he’s still in the ICU and will soon be undergoing intensive surgery.

 

“I feel I owe it to you to tell you this,” Mr. Shimada says to his son. “Originally, we did not intend to save you. We knew you did not intend to join the family business, so you were of no worth to us. However, your brother has made a proposal. We will pay to save your life if you swear loyalty to our family and vow to join the family business.”

“I… promise,” he lies. Keeping promises means nothing to his father, why should Genji bother keeping up his end of the deal?

“Very good. I’m glad this ended well for the both of us.”

 

For a little while that afternoon, it’s just the three of them. “I can’t get it out of my head,” Hana whispers.

“What?” her brother asks.

“The crash. I just keep seeing the window fly out at me.” It’s quiet for a few moments, no one’s exactly sure what to say. “I hate it here,” Hana says. “Can’t do anything but think about the crash.”

“Alright, let’s do something to take our minds off it.”

“Like what?”

“Not sure.”

Defeated, they sit quietly in their beds. Jesse’s struck with an onslaught of memories of all the times when they were younger and he just wished Hana would stop talking because she annoyed the crap out of him.

_ Careful what you wish for _ , he thinks, and almost laughs. He looks over at her. It’s very likely that her face will end up moderately scarred into adulthood. He remembers her desire to be a streamer, and knows that how a streamer looks can influence their audience. Hopefully they’d see it as a sign of her being a badass. Hopefully.

He looks at Lena. Neither of the girls have been the same since the accident. If either of their new personalities are permanent he’d probably cry. Cheery, energetic, “Cheers, love!” Lena was his best friend for years. It’s almost like she died and the self-loathing shell only serves to remind him of her.

 

An hour before Jesse’s surgery, his family comes to visit. His dads reassure him that everything will be alright, but of the three people in the room, he’s least worried about himself. Sombra sits next to Hana.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Feeling better?”

“A little.”

“You’re gonna be alright. You might even be out of here by tonight.”

“How do you know?”

“A magician never reveals her secrets,” she grins.

“Wish I could go home now. I hate it here.”

“Yeah, I can see why. Don’t worry, we’ll get you home soon.”

 

A couple hours later, Jesse returns from surgery. “How’d it go?” Hana asks.

“Left arm is officially paralyzed,” he says. He doesn’t quite sound cheerful, but he seems a lot more positive than most people would be when reporting that.

“They’re gonna keep him here overnight and figure out a plan in the morning,” Jack says. “Hana, the doctors are planning on discharging you within a few hours, they’re just waiting on a few tests to make sure your lungs are alright.”

Sure enough, she’s out before nightfall. Her dads have already set up her bed so she could sleep sitting up, and got her a doctor-recommended pillow for comfort. She has to walk very slowly, and her dads patiently take her to the car. She feels her heart pounding when she gets into the backseat, but tells herself she’ll be alright.

She uses one hand to clutch the pillow to her chest and the other to grab onto the door so tight her knuckles are white. She glances around anxiously, making sure there’s nothing that can hit them. Fortunately, Gabe’s a careful driver, and goes especially slowly on the drive home.

By the time they pull into the driveway, Hana’s sweating and her heart’s pounding so hard it’s making her nauseous. Jack helps her out of the car and into the house.

After being in the hospital so long, she decides she needs a shower. She looks up at the stairs, and is suddenly very glad they have a backup shower downstairs. She gets a change of clothes and gets into the downstairs bathroom, locking the door behind her, and turns the shower on hot.

She tries taking off her shirt, but not long into the process a flash of pain strikes her ribs. She struggles for a while, trying to get her shirt off in a way that wouldn’t hurt her. She tries to muffle the automatic cries of pain and frustration so as not to draw any attention from outside.

When she finally succeeds, her face is bright red. She discards the shirt and looks at herself in the mirror. She caught glimpses of herself in mirrors and windows, but never actually saw herself since the accident. Her right side sports a massive colorful bruise. Red scars run along her face and chest, most of the larger ones stitched shut. The deepest one runs across her cheek, stopping a few centimeters short of her mouth. She runs her fingers across them sadly.

Hana’d always seen herself as moderately attractive, but she thinks the scars completely ruin her. Lucio or her friends might tell her she’s still beautiful, but she can’t see herself as such right then. She pulls herself away from the mirror before she cries yet again, and finishes undressing so she can shower.

 

“Lena, please talk to me.”

“About what?”

“Anything. A week ago you could lock in a room together and we wouldn’t shut up. What’ve you been thinking about the whole time.”

“You don’t want me to answer that. What’ve you been thinking about?”

“Mostly fantasizing about all the fun things I could do when I track down the guy who hit us.”

“You’re not actually going to try to find him, are you?” Lena asks, worry heavy in her voice.

“Nah. That’s better left to the professionals. Just something to fantasize about while bored out of my mind. Your turn.”

“I told you, you don’t want to hear the answer.”

“Yeah, I do. You can tell me anything.”

“I’ve been trying to figure out ways to blame myself.”

“Lena—”

“I know. Deep inside, I know it wasn’t me. But for some reason I just keep trying to blame myself and I don’t know why. It’s just all I can think about.”

He can hear her about to cry. After the last two days he can’t take any more crying.

“Whenever me or my sisters got anxious or worried about something, my dads always told us that the best way to escape the monsters in our heads was to go outside of them. So let’s talk about something else. Tell me about Emily.”

“She’s just really sweet, you know? Whenever someone has a problem she’s always on top of it, and if she can’t fix it she’ll make sure you feel like everything’s ok. She can sing really well, she’s been in choir forever, when she opens her mouth it’s like an angel.” Through the darkness, Jesse can tell she’s finally smiling.

“She’s really pretty, too.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“Way out of my league—”

“Haven’t noticed that.”

“What? You’re crazy.”

“Come on, you’re adorable. Would’ve asked you out in tenth grade if you weren’t already out.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Would’ve had to wait in line too, but I know you would’ve picked me,” he flashes her a grin.

“You’re mad!”

They talk well into the night, before Lena’s exhaustion catches up to her and she eventually passes out. Jesse celebrates internally, and he finally feels like she’ll be ok.

The next morning, he’s up before she is. He picks up the western novel Gabe left with him after surgery and reads until visitor hours start. He sees Angela approaching his room, and flips the book upside down in his hands.

“Mornin’,” he says.

“Hello. I didn’t know you could read,” she jokes.

“Yeah, it’s not going very well.”

“May I suggest…” she takes the book and turns it rightside up.

“Yeah, that’s not helping much. I think I’m a lost cause in this department.”

“It happens,” she says, the corners of her mouth turning slightly upwards. “How’re you feeling?”

“I’m alright. They said they’re gonna try to figure out what to do about my arm this morning and hopefully get me out of here today.”

“And how’s Lena doing.”

“A little better. She told me that she knows it wasn’t her fault we got into the accident but she keeps trying to blame herself anyway, so I tried to take her mind off of it and we talked until she fell asleep.”

“You got her to talk  _ and _ fall asleep?”

“I’m good, I know.”

“That’s impressive.”

 

Nine PM. Hana tries to get to sleep. Ten PM. She’s still awake. Eleven PM. She finally drifts off. Twelve AM. The car hits her again. She wakes up, terrified. One AM. She lies awake with her eyes open. Two AM. She’s forced asleep again. She’s standing over her bloody corpse, screaming. Three AM. She’s playing Pokemon to try to stay awake. Four AM. She’s passed out, DS fallen from her hands onto her lap. Five AM. She’s still asleep. Six AM. The car hits her again. Dawn breaks in the window. She’s dead tired, but tries to get up.

Standing up again is a long and arduous process, but she eventually manages to stand and stabilize herself without getting hurt.

_ Might as well practice Starcraft _ , she thinks. She’s about to turn on her computer, but she realizes she doesn’t  _ want _ to play Starcraft. She doesn’t really want to play anything. Even the Pokemon game she was playing hours ago doesn’t seem that appealing now that she doesn’t need to force herself to stay awake.

She gets her phone and headphones, but before starting the music deletes  _ Gas, Gas, Gas _ and the rest of the Initial D soundtrack off of her phone.

She stares at her computer. She doesn’t want to play games and she doesn’t want to sleep.

_ Netflix it is _ . She sits on her desk chair and turns on her computer. After a couple episodes, Jack taps on her door.

“Hana? You awake?”

“Yeah. Come in.”

He can’t help but notice the dark circles under her eyes. “You haven’t been up all night, have you?”

“Nope. I slept.”  _ About two hours _ , she doesn’t add.

“Alright, well, dad and I are leaving to have a meeting with Jesse’s doctors. We’ll bring back bagels, and there are some leftovers to tide you over.”

“Awesome. Thanks.”

 

Just before Jesse’s meeting, Lena gets discharged. She makes sure to give Jesse a tight hug and thank him before leaving. “Good luck, cowboy.”

“See you soon, Lena. Keep busy to distract yourself. Hang out with Emily.”

“I will. See ya on the other side!”


End file.
